It was a great privilege and blessing to be with Sr. Mary and Sr. Agnese and their colleagues. Special thanks to them for arranging my two-day-ecological-trip with Prof. Roberto Venanzoni. I visited the\u00a0Eremo delle Carceri<\/em>, a Franciscan hermitage near Assisi where St. Francis and his companions retired for prayers,\u00a0Bosco Sacro di Monteluco\u00a0<\/em>(Sacred Forest of Monteluco), where a Franciscan convent is located, and\u00a0Cascata delle Marmore<\/em>, the Environmental Education Center (Marmore<\/em>Falls) with different levels of beautiful falls, located near Terni.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first day of the ecological trip with Prof. Roberto Venanzoni started from Carceri of Mt. Subasio. He explained that there had been many reforestations made in different periods in which some new species of trees were introduced on the mountain. There are three zones in this area, the first zone has olive trees scattered in between the forests of oaks. The second zone is the oak forest, and the third area consists of conifers (pines, fir, and cedar) and mountain pastures where there are grass species and herbs. He also explained the different kinds of rock formation at Carceri. I could see the movements and formations of different rocks, and erosive action of water. He pointed out some plant species like the ferns and mosses that contributes to the ecosystem. In terms of interventions, he noted the importance of considering the aesthetic of the area, e.g. putting a parking lot in an area that will not affect the surrounding nature. There were some signs of interventions being made by Franciscans like preventing the soil from eroding and the preservation of the place conducive to prayers, encounter with nature, and pilgrimages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the second day of the trip, we visited the Sacred Forest of Monteluco near Spoleto. Prof. Roberto and I came across a lot of hikers and bikers heading up to the mountain. He showed me the Sacred Forest of Monteluco of the evergreen holm oak trees. We arrived at a Franciscan convent dated 1218 and found the habit of St. Bernard of Siena, many caves and hermitages where friars used to pray, e.g. the cave of St. Anthony of Padua, which is located in a high area overlooking Spoleto. The Sacred Forest, like Carceri of Mt. Subasio, had a beautiful landscape of rocks covered by woods, plants and shrubs. After visiting Monteluco, we proceeded to the Marmore Falls and the Environmental Center nearby Terni. The center offered a guided tour along the side of the falls which was of three layers and gave us some information about different animals and plants around the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In conclusion to this wonderful experience of friendship and dialogue, I must say, first of all, that I have witnessed what\u00a0Laudato si\u2019<\/em>tells us about our faith and science, i.e. we should also relate our faith with science. Secondly, Carceri and Sacro Bosco are a part of our rich Franciscan heritages.\u00a0\u00a0St. Francis and his followers were very much in communion with nature and made it home of encounter with God. For us Franciscans, we can develop here a project of Franciscan ecological spirituality and ministry. We can utilize the sacred sites in nature for our formation in Franciscan ecological spirituality and for visitors and pilgrims as well. With the various species of plants, trees, shrubs, and herbs, rock formations, landscapes, and the whole ecosystem, it will be a venue for scientific studies and its integration with our faith, awe, and spiritual aesthetics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first formation of the Ecological Spirituality and Ministry (ESM) group was held in the garden of the Church of the Holy Martyrs in Marrakech, Morocco with nine overseas Filipino workers. The session started with the \u201cCanticle of Creatures\u201d and was led by Br. Melito Pinili, OFM who is a missionary assigned to the church of the\u00a0Nuestra Se\u00f1ora del Pilar<\/em>in Larache, Morocco<\/p>\n\n\n\n At first, the participants shared their expectations of the formation. Their objectives were: to learn more about ecology, spirituality and ministry, to take care of creation and environment, to learn how to pray in contemplation of the goodness and beauty of God and His creatures. The hope is that after working in Morocco, they will return to the Philippines to be of service in healing Mother Earth that has been severely affected by industrial exploitations and pollutions.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having listened to their expectations, Br. Melito led them into a discussion on the definition of ecology and spirituality (Catholic spirituality). Then, he gave a reflection about a Franciscan sanctuary in\u00a0Gubbio<\/em>, Italy which is known as the site of Francis\u2019 taming of the fierce wolf that was terrorizing the villagers. They read the story from the passage in the\u00a0Little Flowers of St. Francis<\/em>. The last part of the session was about a topic of \u201cEcological Consciousness-Interconnectedness and contemplating God\u2019s creatures.\u201d At the end, they prayed \u201cLord make me an instrument of your peace<\/em>,\u201d and the Canticle of the Three Young Men (Daniel 3, 57-88).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The participants agreed to create a SNS group called \u201cEcological Spirituality and Ministry \u2013 Marrakech.\u201d They planned to continue the formation meetings on the first Sundays with topics of water, energy, transportation, food, waste disposal, teaching of the Bible on ecology, St. Francis and ecology, Franciscan ecological spirituality and the Encyclical \u201cLaudato si\u2019<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The vision of the group is to establish\u00a0Ecological Spirituality and Ministry<\/em>in different parishes in Morocco by the year 2020, where there are Filipinos and other foreign Christians who would like to discover the beauty and the goodness of God through contemplation and service of care for our common home \u2013 Mother Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Br. Melito Pinili, OFM<\/strong> In conclusion to this wonderful experience of friendship and dialogue, I must say, first of all, that I have witnessed what Laudato si\u2019tells us about our faith and science, i.e. we should also relate our faith with science. Secondly, Carceri and Sacro Bosco are a part of our rich Franciscan heritages. St. Francis and his followers were very much in communion with nature and made it home of encounter with God. For us Franciscans, we can develop here a project of Franciscan ecological spirituality and ministry. We can utilize the sacred sites in nature for our formation in Franciscan ecological spirituality and for visitors and pilgrims as well. With the various species of plants, trees, shrubs, and herbs, rock formations, landscapes, and the whole ecosystem, it will be a venue for scientific studies and its integration with our faith, awe, and spiritual aesthetics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4029,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[572,149,875,96,548,63,69,771],"class_list":["post-4034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ecologia-intergral-en","tag-ecological-conversion","tag-integridad-de-la-creacion-en","tag-integrity-of-creation","tag-jpic-en","tag-jpic-2","tag-ofm","tag-ofm-2-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEcological Spirituality and Ministry<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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JPIC Commission |Custody of the Protomartyrs of the Order
Morocco<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"